Food bank demand increases

SANDPOINT — Times are tough this holiday season, but the Bonner Community Food Center knows there’s always a reason to be thankful.

Difficult financial times have increased the number of families in need of the organization’s help. That same economic hardship means fewer donations from the community.

“It’s been a tough year for us,” program director Alice Wallace said. “Our donations are down 30 percent and our clientele is up 30 percent.”

Nevertheless, Wallace and the rest of the food bank’s staff bank choose to focus on the brighter side of their community service. The center is poised to enjoy a fruitful Thanksgiving in a well-fed community, while the winter months are bring about some extremely timely donations.

On Tuesday, the organization reach the goal for its Thanksgiving initiative by securing 900 turkeys for Bonner County families in need. That impressive number of poultry required serious time commitment on the part of the food bank staff.

“You know how hard it is to plan a Thanksgiving dinner for your family?” Wallace said. “We plan for 900 of them.”

The Thanksgiving goals have the the food bank’s driving force for the past couple of weeks. To pull the task off, Wallace has been working grueling hours for the past 10 days.

“After today I plan on taking a good long rest,” she said.

All that hard work payed off Tuesday afternoon when the food bank staff and other volunteers distributed donated turkeys throughout the town. Food bank staffers cooked turkeys for seniors and others unable to prepare Thanksgiving dinner on their own. Afterward, members of the police and sheriff department helped delivered the birds around town.

“We really appreciated their help, as well as the help from everyone who made donations” Wallace said.

A recent donation from Great Falls, Mont.-based financial services firm D.A. Davidson also brought a little holiday cheer. As a part of the investment firm’s 75th anniversary, D.A. Davidson is donating a total of $120,000 to improve communities across the 17 states in which they operate. With one of their offices located in Sandpoint, the company is donating $1,000  to the food bank.

“The donation came at a time when we really needed it,” Wallace said. “Our client numbers are really up.”

In fact, during October the food bank distributed more than 100,000 pounds of food. With that kind of community demand, Wallace said she sometimes gets a little anxious about keeping up with demand.

“It’s looking a little scary,” she said. “I get a little nervous around this time of year.

But Wallace has learned to rely on her trusted staff members Jennie Aus, Jessica Garcia and Dejah Lane rather than dwell on the troubling times. She also said that when the road got rocky in the past, the town always came through in the end.

“More than anything else, we really want to thank the community for all its help,” Wallace said.